You're listening to Art Of The Unknown - the podcast about traveling, inwards, outwards, and onwards.

Hey guys and welcome back to the show. In this week's episode, I want to talk about spiritual awareness, intuition and how they both relate to traveling. So, what is spiritual awareness? That is the question that I have been grappling with for about the past week. The term awareness, I feel, is something that should be kinda of self-explanatory but I'm not exactly positive how it could relate to spirituality. In my mind, the word awareness is just what it says: you're aware of something. You have it in your consciousness and you acknowledge its existence in a way. So, basically my question is: what are you becoming aware of spiritually that you weren't aware of before? And this is going to mean different things to different people but I guess one way we can define it is that you are back to your soul. Becoming spiritually aware means being able to connect back into the part of you that maybe becomes blurred or becomes drowned out by different thoughts or everyday life or just different things that are happening around you. Or maybe it can mean having an increased perception of what's going on around you in the non- physical realm. Meaning that you are able to pick up and understand and feel the things around you that aren't necessarily perceived by your five senses. Becoming spiritually aware means going beyond the five senses. Or maybe becoming spiritually aware just means that you're changing the way you think and it's expanding not just towards you but also the world around you. Either way, I kind of get the idea that spiritual awareness is going to mean connecting or communicating with something that isn't just of a different dimension but is going to be of a higher power.

So, it's going to be about connecting with your own higher self and your own inner wisdom. Those are going to be great places to start but I also believe that part of this process includes being able to connect to with people, with nature and ultimately your surroundings. Becoming spiritually aware and understanding and evolving through that process is going to be a different journey for different people. That's going to mean that maybe certain people are going to be able to do things and pick up things differently or maybe easier or maybe more naturally than other people. For example: maybe you're the kind of person that's able to pick up vibrations from other people or maybe, you’re more in tune with what your body is telling you like your wants and your needs. Or maybe you’re sensitive to the vibrations of the earth. No matter what it is, I think that all of this is a type of awareness of something that isn't necessarily physical but it's an awareness of something metaphysical. Everyone's experience here is going to evolve differently. We are all becoming aware of different things, at different times and at different rates. Everyone's awareness is as unique as the experiences that brought them to the point that they are right now. So, I'm not really trying to generalize or speak for anyone else, what I'm doing is I simply just want to talk about what I know and talk about my experiences and hopefully by doing so, it might maybe help someone realize or maybe even understand their own experiences or maybe their own spiritually awakening process.

I think the term “spiritually aware” means being able to connect with parts of this reality that are outside of the five senses and outside of the experiences that we are conditioned to believe are “it” - are the absolute. So, being spiritually aware means, at least I think it means, is having an increased perception of reality. And in order for us to connect with that reality, I think that the tool that we already possess in order to do so is going to be our intuition. Our intuition is what's going to allow us to pick up the frequencies and the vibrations in the energy that already exist around us without us necessarily being aware of it. It's using those signals from ourselves and those signs and those feelings and that kind of unexplainable experience that you have - it's going to be using all of those as a way to understand what's going on around us, even if we can't necessarily put those into words. This information that we're picking up through whatever realm you want to call it - this information that we can gather with our intuition - it's going to help us not just survive on this planet but it's also going to help us thrive here. It's going to help us be able to live and experience this life and this reality in this world that we are in and it helps us experience it fully and deeply and on a different realm than I think what we're used to.

Maybe becoming spiritually aware means tapping into the universal intelligence or eternal wisdom. I don't know but whatever you want to call it. Whatever that thing is that exists both within us and outside of us, it's here so that we can access it. So that we can tune into it and be guided by it. We can trust it. We know that wherever our intuition or whatever these spiritual experiences are coming from, we know that we're able to go in that direction because we know that the information we are receiving is needed. It's something that we can trust and go towards and ultimately believe that we're going to get and do and be where we need to be, because there's something that we don't understand. We can't necessarily pinpoint it or put our minds on it, but we can feel it. And however anybody feels it or relates to it, that is their business all day long. I'm just trying to tell you how I kind of see that aspect of our reality.

So, the question is: how does spiritual awareness and intuition relate to traveling? Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, you are affected by your surroundings whether or not you are consciously aware of it or recognize it. So, with that being said, I one hundred percent truly believe there's more going on around here than meets the eye. I think it's important to recognize that and use what we are already have in order to be able to, not just move around the world, but to have the best experience that we can while we're here. By traveling, and going out and seeing the world, you're able to pick up and understand and feel things in different areas and in different cultures that you weren't necessarily aware of before. I really think that by using your awareness and using your intuition, you're able to understand the world as a whole not just by feeling it by but by traveling. By going there and by doing so, you're just going to be able to ground yourself more and understand the world better and ultimately be able to move around and experience life as freely and as blissfully as possible.

I think traveling is a great way, not only to practice and use your intuition, but to see where you're at in regards to how well you're connecting with yourself. I don't know if you're traveling with other people or whatever the situation is… but it’s ultimately you walking this earth and you have to be responsible, for not just your safety, but to able to find your way and maneuver through this world that we all exist in. Because you know what? No one else is going to do it for you. No one's going to be able to understand the world for you and find your way through the world for you. We're all responsible for the path that we walk but also the direction that we go. So, I think by using your intuition and becoming more spiritually aware of yourself and your surroundings - it's going to make that walk just a little bit easier and I really think it's going to lead you to where you also really want to go and where you need to go.

So, I've done a little bit of traveling in my day and whenever somebody asks me what they should do or where they should go or if it is safe… the advice that I always give people is that you can pretty much almost walk anywhere safely around this earth as long as you have two things: you are able to use your common sense and your intuition. End of story. I 100% truly and completely believe that those are the two thing that you need in order to make your way, not just safely through this earth but happily and have a good time doing so. And truth be told, common sense isn't as common as you would think. There's going to be people out there (and I know some and I'm sure you know some) who jus really don't have a grasp on what this whole commonsense thing is and I know there's a few people thatif they were to tell me they were going to leave the country by themselves, I would fear for their lives, okay. So not everyone has common sense, unfortunately, but I think, or at least I hope I think, that everyone could tap into their intuition and be able to use that as a way to guide them through this earth. So, yes, trusting your intuition and trusting your common sense, are imperative while traveling, no doubt about it. The world is not as scary as people make it out to be. This is a fact but you still need to be cautious and careful because at the end of the day, you are in a foreign country, maybe by yourself, maybe not, either way, you're in an unknown place, you're in an unknown surrounding and ultimately, you are the only person there that you can trust. So with that being said, you have to install and maintain that sense of confidence within yourself in order for you to move forward. Common sense and your intuition: those are going to be the key things that you need in order to make it through this lifetime.

Common sense definitely comes easier to me than trusting my intuition. Honestly, I am not a really that great at it. I am definitely still learning, okay, I am still learning how to not just recognize my intuition, but also to trust it. But looking back over the past, I would say like five years or so, I've definitely increased my ability to understand myself but it's not coming easy and it's really only going to increase by one wanting to have that desire, to open up that part of you, in that realm and its ability to kind of perceive things on a different level but it's also going to come to you only through experience, you're going to have to do things that you shouldn't, in order to learn that you shouldn't do them again, honestly, that's how sometimes it needs to happen.

There's going to be a list of things that, you know, that you shouldn't do while you're traveling that are just going to be common sense to a lot of people. Like…Oh, don't go to sketchy areas at night or maybe, you know, don't get drunk when you're in a foreign country. Stuff like that, which I think are things that are obvious but not so obvious to other people. I guess that could be a base but you're going to have to build on that by using your intuition. Because there's going to be things and situations that you're going to have to get out of that aren't going to make sense to you and they're sure as hell not going to make sense to other people. Maybe you're in a situation that you feel, for some reason that can't explain, but you just feel that it isn't right and you want to get the hell out of there. So, you know what? You're going to have to leave or there's going to be times when you think you want to do something but there's also something pulling you back because, maybe you’re not quite there yet or maybe, it's not the right time.

Being able to decipher between your intuition and your mind is not easy, okay, let me tell you that right now. The mind is going to talk at a thousand miles per hour. It is going to bombard you with the reasons why you should or you shouldn't do something and how are you supposed to know that what you're doing is something that you should be doing and that is right for you and that is a direction that you should be going? Or what if it's just paranoia. Maybe it's your mind just running off with reasons why it's a bad idea when it's actually fine. When you're just kind of being a little bit crazy and that is definitely what happens to me. Sometimes I just feel crazy, like I'm so sick of hearing myself think, I just want it to shut the hell up. I am freaking out over it but anyways… so understanding your intuition is going to have to come by eliminating those thoughts. It's going to have to come by letting go of what the mind thinks, what the mind wants, and what the mind is trying to convince you is true or logical. Or maybe just simply just make sense. When I talk about connecting to your intuition and increasing your spiritual awareness, I'm not just talking about it as a way to survive in an area or get through something or make a decision, it's also a way to help you experience the surroundings and the country that you're in and the culture that you're in on a deeper level. Because they're going to be things you can't necessarily pick up by looking and by feeling with your five senses. There's going to be things that you're just going to have to feel. That you're just going to have to experience internally. It's not going to make sense and it doesn't have to.

Using your intuition and becoming spiritually aware is only going to benefit you in the long run. It's going to help you understand the place and the environment that you're in on a deeper level. I think you can really learn things, about not just the culture, but also about yourself by being open to more than what meets the eyes. So… how does one increase their ability to listen to their intuition? This is a very difficult question because it's something that I have a hard time with and only more recently have I been trying to listen to myself and my intuition. It’s still coming along and it's still taking some work. It's not the easiest thing but different things come harder or easier to different people and listening to myself is just one of those things I'm still learning to do. So… how do we communicate and open up that channel? I would say the first part would be actually believing that you can and this is because you're going to have to acknowledge that there is a non-physical part of you that knows things and has a wisdom that you can't really identify. Because you’re in your mind and you're going to need to understand that there is something else, you can call it whatever you want, but just acknowledging that there is something else out there - that can give you what you're looking for. There is energy and vibration and knowledge and intelligence outside of you. Sometimes it can only be felt and not a logically or mentally understood. So, once you have that acknowledgement of that something greater out there, I think the second thing is: you're going to need to want to communicate. You're going to want to have that desire to connect with your inner being and not just live in the mind all the time because that is going to drive you crazy. Having that desire to connect with your inner being, that is where you're going to have to remove yourself from the mind. The mind is a very, very cluttered place and with all of those thoughts and everything racing around at light-year speeds… that is going to drown out and create so much noise. You can't listen to the subtle voice that exists within you that is trying to be heard and trying to speak.

To connect with that voice, you’re going to need to want to leave the mind and just accept that there are parts of you that have to be felt and not understood with the reasoning and thought. A great way to do this is to check in with yourself. You're going to have to understand how you feel and be completely honest with what comes up. The mind is going to make up reasons to why you think you feel a certain way, when that's not actually the case and sometimes, your intuition is going to tell you something that you're not going to want to hear. You're not going to want to listen to it because that doesn't match the expectations that you have or the wants that you have. So, being honest with what comes up and acknowledging that that is the truth, whether or not you want to believe it, is going to be very important. I think a way to do this is by asking yourself a question and focus on how that question or that response makes you feel, because again, it's going to be about moving from the mind to how the body reacts and listening to that as opposed to listening to the fear that is in your mind.

Okay, so far I went over or spiritual awareness, what it is and also kind of, sort of how it relates to intuition. So for today I'm going to end here and next week is going to be part two of this episode. In that episode I want to go more specifically and into depth about how to use your intuition while traveling, why it is important and basically, some life lessons involved in learning and traveling and living. Tune in next week for all of that!